This resource provides educators with a tool to help students become more informed on marine debris and encourage environmental stewardship. The lesson plans aim to create advocates for marine environments with the students it reaches. The lesson plans can be completed independently or in sequence in a middle years classroom.
The focus of this resource is on the development of awareness and the empowerment of the students to make a difference rather than skill acquisition.
An Educator's Guide to Marine Debris is a great resource to empower students to take action in reducing the consumption of single use plastics by developing awareness. It is a great stand alone resource for the Science classroom.
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Good | |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
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Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Good | The activities are well balanced and allow the students to explore the issue and have discussions with their classmates with regards to difficulties and realities of the plastics problem. |
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
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Respects Complexity | Very Good | The activities are designed in such a way that the students are encouraged to see the big picture of how plastics make their way to the oceans and what can be done to mitigate the problem. |
Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
Acting on Learning | Good | Each lesson ends with a discussion of how to improve the current situation with regards to marine debris by making lifestyle changes and taking the Plastics Pledge to reduce the consumption of plastics. |
Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
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Values Education | Very Good | This occurs as the students get ample opportunity to discuss and reflect with their peers regarding the issue. |
Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
Empathy & Respect for Humans | Poor/Not considered | This is not a focus of this resource. |
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
Personal Affinity with Earth | Satisfactory | The activities are all classroom based. |
Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
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Locally-Focused Learning | Satisfactory | |
Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
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Past, Present & Future | Good | |
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. |
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Open-Ended Instruction | Very Good | |
Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
Integrated Learning | Very Good | This resource does a very good job of adding Numeracy within its lessons as well as writing. |
Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
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Inquiry Learning | Good | |
Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
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Differentiated Instruction | Good | This resource has hands-on activities that would appeal to a variety of learning styles. Unfortunately, there are no strategies for struggling learners. |
Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
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Experiential Learning | Satisfactory | |
Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
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Cooperative Learning | Satisfactory | |
Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
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Assessment & Evaluation | Satisfactory | Each lesson ends with a section entitled "Evaluate/Wrap Up" but there are no tools or suggestions for evaluation. The activity is more of a closing activity to the lesson. |
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
Peer Teaching | Satisfactory | |
Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
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Case Studies | Poor/Not considered | This is not the focus of this resource. |
Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
Locus of Control | Good | The resource does allow for some student choice. |
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. |